I wasn’t sure which thread was most appropriate to post this but p[icked this as it relates to the “future” for those with long covid.
The popular science style gist of it. A new imaging technique does indeed demonstrate long term lung damage in patients with long covid.
The actual study summary is “For dyspneic patients 3 months after discharge from the hospital for COVID-19, hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI showed abnormalities due to gas transfer limitation in the lungs.”
For these people with long covid the future is continued debility. Hopefully, now that damage can be identified we’ll be that little bit closer to possible alleviating that debility. It also allows for comparative follow up.
As an aside, ventilation/perfusion mismatch is dfficult to diagnose on imaging, for example, pulmonary emboli. It relies on V/Q scans, which are not that accurate or CT pulmonary angiography which requires a formidable radiation dose (increasing lifetime breast cancer risk in women).